Special Ops Task Force Helps Shift Afghanistan Trend Line

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2013 - As U.S. and coalition conventional forces in
Afghanistan prepare to draw down, the quiet professionals of the special
operations community remain committed to a variety of missions there through the
end of 2014 and beyond, the commander of U.S. and NATO special operations forces
in Afghanistan said today.

Army Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas commands the Special Operations Joint Task Force
Afghanistan, a first-of-its-kind division-level headquarters that encompasses
all in-country NATO special operations forces and assets. The command also is
known as the NATO Special Operations Component Command Afghanistan.

"Our mission set spans the entire spectrum of special operations ... in a
counterterrorist and a counterinsurgency environment, ranging from direct action
to capacity- building," Thomas said. "The latter entails not only operations
with our Afghan [special operations forces] partners, who are 14,000 strong, but
also the creation and transition of Afghan local police, currently numbering
over 22,000 and authorized to grow to 30,000."

Thomas explained the command numbers roughly 13,000 special operators and
support people from 25 partner nations, and includes "every special operations
organization in the United States inventory," from Army Green Berets and Rangers
to Navy SEALs and special operations Marines.

"Our Army and Air Force special operations elements are formed in a unified
command, as well," he said, "consisting of roughly 200 aircraft, ranging from
fixed-wing lift assets to rotary-wing lift and attack platforms, as well as
organic unmanned [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft], such
as Predators and Reapers."

The general said roughly 61 teams work with the Afghan local police program
in village stability operations, and 50 additional teams partner with other
Afghan security elements. Among those, he said, some 19 Afghan provincial
response companies -- small police units deployed to selected provinces mostly
in the south and east of Afghanistan -- include a team of NATO or U.S. special
operators, sometimes both. And task force members also pair with Afghan
commandos, whom Thomas likened to Rangers, and with 11 specialized night raid
units partnered with his command's strike elements.

Task force members will stay tactically partnered with their Afghan
counterparts through the year, and then, depending on conditions, will look to
step back into an enabling role, Thomas said.

At that point, Afghan forces "will go out independently on the ground, and
we'll endeavor to conduct mission preparation for them, intelligence
preparation, target preparation, et cetera, as well as providing enablers,
things that they don't have in their inventory yet, such as fires, fire support,
and ISR," the general said.

Thomas said beyond 2014 and depending on a U.S.-Afghan bilateral security
agreement and other negotiations, the task force will focus on helping Afghan
forces integrate and master new organic capabilities.

"For instance, this year, we will provide them with ISR platforms ... so that
they'll be able to replace us in-kind over time, but that'll take some training
that will probably extend past the '14 timeframe," he said.

Those intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms will be unarmed
and full-motion-video equipped, he said, and the coalition also is "looking to
arm some of the special mission wing helicopters that the Afghans will have in
their inventory." Afghanistan plans a fleet of 30 MI-17 helicopters, "both an
armed and a lift variety, and they'll be getting them in over the next couple of
years, as well," he noted.

In another year, the task force should be ready to turn to higher-level
tasks, Thomas said.

"If we're good -- if we're really good at what we do -- and they demonstrate
the necessary proficiency, we'll be able to step away over time and concentrate
at their higher headquarters level, which has been built after the tactical
units," he said. Thomas noted that brigade-level headquarters are being
established now, along with an Afghan army special operations division.

That division will own all of its ISR, helicopters and armored mobility
vehicles, he said. "So it'll be quite a capable organization," he added, "but
it's just in its formative stages right now, and that's what we're focused
on."

It's too soon to judge how many U.S. and coalition special
operations forces Afghanistan might need beyond 2014, the general said in
response to a question.

"We're prepared to provide as much special operations force training and
equipping as they need, but the numbers are varied right now, depending on ...
the state of security at the time and truly their stated requirements," Thomas
said.

The general said he's seen an "extraordinary trend" in the 11 months he has
been in Afghanistan this time. He has been in Afghanistan part of every year
since 2001, except for a year he spent in Iraq.

"When I first got here [on this tour], the mantra was, 'We aren't winning,
but we're leaving anyway,'" Thomas said. "And that was something we were
fighting against, that we didn't seem to be on a positive trend line. ... The
time was coming in terms of the end of the ISAF mission."

This year, the performance of the Afghan security forces and the "very
positive" reaction from the people have shifted that trend, he said.

Counterinsurgency students, including himself, "talk often about the people
being the center of gravity," Thomas noted. "The people are voting in large
numbers here. They're tired of the Taliban."

The next step is up to the Afghan government, Thomas said.

"We are still looking for the government of Afghanistan to then deliver the
rest of the goods of government that the people expect now," he said. "In fact,
everywhere I go, they'll tell me, 'Security is good. We're now ready for jobs.
We're now ready for education. We're now ready to advance.' And that's what
we're hoping is the next critical phase as Afghanistan moves forward."